Home Is Where Christmas Is
by movieholic
Summary: Gibbs felt the warmth from before flood him. This was home now. He smiled. A/N: Abigale McGee's Challenge.


**A/N: Reponse to Abigale McGee's Challenge. **

* * *

Boots sunk deep into the powdery, white snow that covered nearly everything in sight. Lifting a leg to shake off the icy particles, Gibbs watched as a white puff of air escaped his lips, a signal of his irritability. Rolling his eyes, he grunted to himself about being a Marine, before plowing onward. When he finally reached his destination, the door flew open and he found himself staggering for footing, arms full of Abby Sciuto.

"Gibbs! You made it!" she squealed before pulling away, not releasing her grip on his broad shoulders. Eyes alight with glee, she continued rapidly, "But of course you made it, you _said_ you would! And the Bossman always stands by his word. Unless of course there's an emergency, like a car accident or something...I mean the roads are icy, and very dangerous to drive on-" Going wide eyed, she gently punched his shoulder and exclaimed, "Gibbs! What were you thinking! You coulda been hurt!"

Finally deciding he had enough of her goodhearted rambling, and the biting cold, Gibbs rolled his eyes for the second time that night before carefully pulling her off of him. "Abs," he drawled, "I'm here, I'm fine. Can we go in now?" he cocked his head towards the inside of the house.

Nodding exuberantly, she grabbed his hand and tugged him inside. Gibbs lifted his nose to the air and noted the scent of homemade cooking, feeling his stomach rumble agreeably. Abby continued to pull him towards the source of the food when they finally arrived into the brightly lit kitchen.

Gibbs stood in the doorway as he surveyed the occupants of the room. Ducky was fussing over the amount of butter Palmer had put into the mashed potatoes, as DiNozzo and Ziva flicked various pieces of vegetables at one another. Shaking his head, he turned to see Abby _tsking_ at McGee at the stove, before trotting over with a tray of cookies. Holding it up to him, he peered down and bit back a laugh at the skull cookies with Santa hats.

"Wanna cookie? I made them myself," she grinned. Gibbs picked one up, eying her wearily, before taking a bite. She studied his face as though she were on a hot case, and broke out into a wider grin when Gibbs nodded appreciatively. "Like?"

"Mmhmm." He watched as she went back to McGee, relaxing his shoulders when the warmth of the atmosphere settled into his bones. With the Christmas rock music playing at a reasonable level, volume controlled by Ducky no doubt, the wonderful smells of home cooked foods, and the feeling of happiness in the air, Gibbs nodded firmly to himself. This felt like home.

"Jethro! Good to see you have finally made it, my dear boy." Ducky gently patted Gibbs' cheek upon seeing him, before throwing his hands up in the air. "No, no, Mr. Palmer! _Double_ the recipe! Double!"

"Sorry Dr. Mallard," the young man apologized, before sending Gibbs a wary nod of acknowledgment. Gibbs returned the gesture, although he did love to see Palmer squirm sometimes.

"Ba-hoss!" DiNozzo called out, having now realized that Gibbs had arrived. He suddenly realized that he was holding a handful of peas in one hand, and a spoon for a catapult in the other. Dropping them quickly, he attempted to come up with a explanation. "Well, see Boss, I was...well..." sighing he finally settled for the truth. "Ziva and I were having a food fight," and he head slapped himself. "That one's on me, Boss."

Gibbs smirked, but still said nothing. He glanced over at his Mossad officer, who was standing by DiNozzo with a confused expression on his face. "Tony!" she shouted, causing the others to flinch. "Why have you stop-Oh." She pulled the buds of an iPod from her ears, her cheeks turning pink when she caught sight of Gibbs in the doorway. "Gibbs."

"David."

"We were-" she stopped herself short of a lie at Gibbs' mock glare, and shrugged. "We were having a food toss," she turned to DiNozzo. "Yes?"

"Fight. Food fight." Her partner corrected with an embarrassed look.

"Ya think?" Gibbs took a few more steps into the kitchen, leaning against a counter. DiNozzo strode over to the fridge and pulled two beers out, handing one over to his boss without a word. McGee then caught sight of the movement, so focused on his task at the stove that he hadn't realized that there was a vistor.

"Uh, hi Boss." He greeted, lifting his chin to appear more confident. Gibbs smirked and once more, simply nodded in greeting.

"Bottoms up, Boss," DiNozzo said, before they clinked their bottles together and began guzzling.

Ziva giggled and stumbled as she reached for what Gibbs assumed was a beer of hers from before. He watched with a cocked eyebrow as she downed the rest of it in one gulp, and hiccuped. "Oops," and she laughed.

Beautiful. A drunk Ziva. Lord, keep her away from the cutlery. Ducky must've had the same idea, because the older gentleman led Ziva away from any sharp objects, starting a tale of a woman he once knew as they left the room.

"Dinner's nearly finished," Abby exclaimed suddenly, after several minutes of content, near silence. The others grumbled of their hunger, before dispersing from the room and into the living room to finish their wait. Gibbs settled himself into the couch, and allowed a bone weary sigh to escape his lips. DiNozzo glanced over, before raising his own bottle to his lips.

"Y'kay Boss?" he quietly asked, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Yahuh," Gibbs responded, rather than sending over a glare that warned the other to shut his trap. He closed his eyes and rested his head back. A shriek, followed by laughter echoed in the kitchen. Soon followed by, "Jimmy, mistletoe is for kissing only!" and a even quicker, "Sorry Abby!"

"Dinner, is served!"

Several hours later, the group had once more settled into the living, for DiNozzo's Christmas film. Fast forwarding through several commercials, and apologizing profusely for the amount of depressing, "Feed the Children," ads they blew through, he finally found the start of the film and plopped himself down next to his boss.

Sandwiched between his Senior Field Agent, and Abby, Gibbs didn't know whether to pretend to be annoyed, or to just let go and relax. However, he stiffened slightly when a kiss from Abby's side was gently pressed against his cheek, in the dark.

_Giggling filled the air as two occupants of a couch steal a kiss. _

Gibbs closed his eyes, and willed his breath to steady.

_Covering the little girl's eyes, the man teased her lovingly, "It's a scary kiss."_

Jolted from his past, Gibbs glanced over at Abby, who was focused on the film. Surveying the room, he watched as McGee lie on the floor, peering up into the television like he was a little boy again, Palmer right next to him. Ducky sat on a separated couch, arm slung around a sleep Ziva's shoulders in a fatherly manner. DiNozzo was completely focused on the film, and his popcorn.

Gibbs felt the warmth from before flood him.

This was home now.

He smiled.

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**End.**


End file.
